Inside The Race of Gentlemen 2018, As Seen from Andy Kohler’s 1930 Ford Model A Roadster

“There’s something magical about a car that’s built entirely from old parts. It’s like a time machine of sorts,” says Andy Kohler, hot rodding devotee and owner of Kohler Kustom (kohlerkustom.com) in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. “I’ve always felt that building and driving a hot rod is a way to reclaim something lost in the name of progress.”

Andy has forged a name in hot rodding over the last decade, fabricating period-perfect parts and building top-notch hot rods at his extensive shop, which resides off the beaten path in the quiet hills of the Keystone State. Walking into Andy’s garage/laboratory is like blazing through a wormhole in time, putting you back in a period of history that lies somewhere between the Treaty of Versailles and the Korean conflict.

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Andy Kohler waits for a run on the Jersey Shore at The Race of Gentlemen. Look closely and you’ll spot our Sept. 2018 issue’s cover car, Rob Ida’s ’32 roadster, with Gene Winfield in the seat, behind Kohler’s ’30 Model A roadster.

Vintage tools are plentiful (and used extensively) in his shop, and there are always several hot rods being worked on. His work is well known in traditional hot rodding circles, and he’s got a worldwide following. “I’m just starting on my fourth hot rod that will go to Switzerland,” he says.

As he points out, the craft of hot rodding as we know it is an ever-changing entity. “The term ‘traditional hot rod’ has deviated from its initial meaning as we’ve advanced. The once cut-and-dried description is starting to take on another meaning as time moves on and the mainstream embraces the hobby.” The perception of the hobby has changed with the resurgence of roots hot rodding through major high-visibility, high-intensity shows popping up across the globe.

Andy at speed in his dry-lakes-inspired roadster over the slippery sands of Wildwood during TROG 2018. He took styling cues from several notable cars for the roadster, including the historic Khougaz ’32 lakes roadster. His ride is channeled 6 inches over the Z’d frame to help get its aluminum belly to hover just over the sand.

It’s through well-attended and -covered events like The Race of Gentlemen where traditional hot rodding has now merged into the mainstream. The once underground event, built on the sands of the New Jersey beachfront, has gained a huge following, due not only to the renewed interest in building original-style hot rods, but also because of the fact that the event is a feast for the senses. Aurally boisterous, hypnotically rumbling, and a festival for the eyes, The Race of Gentlemen has become a mainstay for many hot-rod-hungry consumers.

Andy has certainly done his share to make TROG succeed and helped make sure the storied past is not forgotten. He’s one of the many vintage car aficionados not only helping to keep the hot rod hobby healthy, but also striving to keep it moving forward. Since day one, he’s participated with TROG, initially making the nine-hour trek in a hard-chopped ’34 Ford from his past hometown of Buffalo to the sands of the Jersey Shore for a day of racing.

This is how Andy’s chassis looked prior to mounting the body. He started with the front half of an original ’32 chassis and built the back half from box tubing, incorporating a sturdy tubular center-X. Next he added a 10-inch kick-up and a Model T rear crossmember. A Mike-Moore-built quick-change features spider gears that have been welded together, and a set of reversed ’47 Ford axle housings so that Kohler could mount the spring in front of the rear axle.

Fuel to the Flames

Andy has piloted several crazy-cool hot rods at past TROG events, including a ’34 coupe, a Model T lakes racer, and a supercharged ’32 three-window. For the 2018 event, his ride was definitely one for the ages. “I guess I am hung up on the aesthetics of 1946-1954-era land-speed racers, and this car is basically a collection of ideas pulled from a few of my favorite cars from that period.”

This particular car was first thrashed together in just a few short months for TROG 2016. For this year, however, the low-slung roadster has gone through a few improvements. Race organizers like to see new cars at the show every year and recommend that repeat drivers either build new cars or at least modify their last one. That was Andy’s motivation for the changes.

Here’s a shot of the underside of the roadster during the bellypan fabrication. The tear-drop-shaped pan is a big plus for aerodynamics and helps keep some of the loose sand out of the car.

The car’s history with Andy goes back five years. “I had just sold my ’34 coupe, and I wanted to build a roadster.” He put a want ad up on the H.A.M.B. and immediately got a response. “It was in Detroit, it was rough and in 10 pieces. But the price was right, so a deal was struck.”

When Andy finally got the roadster body home, it had all the telltale signs of being a hot rod at one point. What was left on the subrails was raised to accommodate a channel job, the rear section was cut out to fit a Z’d frame of some sort, and the back fenders had been raised.

Andy added an auxiliary tube crossmember ahead of the stock location to accommodate the spring forward suspension. It’s not usually an appealing look, so he made a frame-horn cover that blends in with the bellypan. This piece gives the car downforce, which helps cancel out some of the opposite lifting force being created by the bellypan.

Andy built a nice chassis for the Model A body. Starting with an original ’32 frame, he added a ’37 center X-member along with Model A front and rear crossmembers. Andy took little time turning the car into a roller, but then his attention was drawn to something else he couldn’t live without: a set of original Ardun heads. He sold the car to fund his purchase of the rare race parts without a second thought.

A couple of years later, the buddy he sold the body to needed a quick cash infusion, so he called Andy back and offered him the body. He had the cash and the space, so he bought it back in early 2016, just in time for a short but spirited build to make that year’s TROG.

Andy initially painted the roadster red with a white flame job, but decided to change it. “After coming up for air after days of a pre-TROG thrash, I realized I had unintentionally copied my buddy Jeffrey James’ paint job on his Hot Mess coupe.” So days before the 2016 event, the fresh paint was sanded down, masked off, and a new color scheme was devised and executed.

At this point, Andy had enough parts to fabricate a new chassis for the roadster and powered it with a 255-inch flathead. An 11-inch truck clutch joins the engine to the gears in a ’39 Ford transmission, which in turn spin a Mike Moore–built quick-change rear.

For TROG 2018, Andy mounted a set of Ford wide-five wheels, the rears being ultra-rare 16×5.5 pieces. These wide hoops were once used on Marmon Herrington 4×4 conversions. The rims are shod with Tornell 7.00x16s out back and Excelsior 5.50x16s up front. Andy also changed out the MG steering wheel he used in the past to a ’40 Ford wheel and added ’47 Ford juice brakes up front (the ’16 version did not have front brakes).

The front end of the car is made up of an original ’32 grille shell that was perfect “till I cut the bottom off to make it fit,” says Andy. It didn’t go to waste, though. The leftover lower piece was used to repair a friend’s shell that had seen better days. Andy made the radiator shield using a design similar to ones he had seen on late-1940s land-speed racers.

A Day at the Races

Since Andy is a newly enlisted member of the Oilers crew, his TROG adventure starts with race prep early in the week and continues until race day. Like many drivers, though, there were hours spent on his race car before he headed to Wildwood, going down a basic checklist to make sure the car would perform up to standards. The Model A had spent many months in slumber over the long winter and needed to be gone through thoroughly.

Most of the basic maintenance points were touched: plugs, wires, fluids, and running gear all checked out and tweaked. Since Andy runs a full hood and bellypan, sand issues are cut down greatly, but not completely. He runs a sand shield and screens on his carbs to fight off issues. You’re bound to get the grainy stuff in every nook and cranny (including on your person), so every precaution should be taken, unless you’re just a glutton for punishment. Sand and salt water make for a nasty combo to say the least, and there have been quite a few engine fatalities after a weekend in the grit.

The main attraction up front is Kohler Kustom’s own 2.5-inch drop axle. Andy makes these in his shop, using his grandfather’s 60-year-old press to shape them (a process we covered in “Get Your Drop On!” May 2017). This particular one is from a ’36 Ford, as are the split wishbones, installed in spring-forward fashion. An F1 steering box keeps this sand-shearing ride pointed in the right direction.

While the first TROG in 2012 was a one-day happening, now it’s a weeklong event—that is, if you don’t count the endless hours TROG chief honcho Meldon Stultz and his Oilers Car Club crew spend off the sand preparing for the weekend. Now in its seventh year on the Jersey Shore, the show has become a “well-Oiled” machine.

After a late Friday night of festivities, Andy is up at dawn, ready to meet with fellow racers to prepare for an assault on the sand in a car he’s christened number 169. By now, the sound of open headers can be heard throughout the streets that make up the Wildwood grid, echoing off the multitudes of concrete mid-century-themed hotels that dot the town.

A pair of ’47 Ford Lockheed-type juice brakes was mounted up front this year for added stopping power, and match the ones in back. They were liberally drilled by the last owner (obviously without any layout) to help alleviate heat buildup. Shocks are swap meet specials, hung on 1940s Dodge upper mounts.

By 8 a.m., the racers are lined up along Ocean Avenue for their entrance to the beach. The “gazing tunnel,” the passage under the boardwalk at the race location, has become a favorite spot for spectators and photographers alike. Here, Andy leads the way for the four-wheeled rides, with more than 150 cars following him onto the sand.

Weather can wreak havoc on TROG, and this year was no exception. An overly wet spring left the sand in a frothy boil; groomers were constantly flattening the dragstrip as the tide retreated along the shoreline. Weather reports told of possible thunderstorms along the lower coast, which would not be welcome in the least. But at TROG, there’s no rainout. You get the runs you can get before it all goes to pot.

The powerplant is a refurbished 255ci Mercury flathead, topped with Edmunds heads, an Edmunds 2×2 intake, and a pair of Stromberg 81 carburetors. A Winfield SU1-A cam, Mallory dual-point YB-type 241 AX dizzy, and a set of vintage headers round out the rodder’s recipe here.

After a required driver meeting, the cars hit the sand. With the largest field to date, the lines moved slowly. Add in rain, fog, and delays for grooming the surface, and it was tough getting in multiple runs.

The bikes had it especially hard, as the soft sand was tough to navigate on just two tires. There were trikes added this year, which had a little more stability on the eighth-mile runs. Cars and bikes dug in and tried to get traction in the fluffy grit, throwing mounds of beach at the lucky few who got to be up close and personal on the beachfront.

The roadster’s interior is as bare bones as it gets. A ’41 Ford dash was cut and molded to fit. Three vintage Stewart-Warner gauges keep track of the engine vitals. A ’40 Ford steering wheel, which replaced the MG wheel Andy first had, is on a ’39 column. Andy’s seat is a canvas-covered steel tube frame that was pulled from an old stock car racer. And Andy’s co-pilot for the race is a WWII-era oxygen tank, which now serves duty as the roadster’s fuel tank. The aluminum tonneau cover helps greatly with air flow, and adds a nice custom touch to the post-war racer.

It was a rough first day on the beach. With the delays, Andy had managed to get in only three runs. After seeing how difficult it was for many racers to get through the pits and down the track, having raced at TROG nearly every year, and knowing many of these participants have come a long distance to ride the surf, Andy decided the best thing to do was call it a weekend. This would help more guys and gals get in multiple runs on Sunday. It’s this type of sportsmanship that makes The Race of Gentlemen such a great event.

The only thing left was to bring number 169 off the beach and check her vitals. The roadster ran well, with no issues. However, sand is a pesky hitchhiker. You could spend weeks pulling grains out of every corner of your ride, which Andy did, and yet he still gets reminders of his day on the beach with each bump he hits on the road. But that’s fine with him. It’s a friendly reminder of good times on the sand, with good friends, doing what he loves most.

Andy’s choice in wheels is among the fine details that sets his cars apart from others at TROG. The roadster rides on a set of Ford wide-five wheels, with the rears being a matching pair of Marmon Herrington 4×4 conversion rims.Saturday at TROG was plagued with delays. Poor sand, inclement weather, a smaller footprint for the race, and the largest field ever for a TROG event all played with the flow of the race. Sunday saw improvement, which put a smile on the faces of both the drivers and spectators alike.Andy just doesn’t come to play in the sand. His band, The Tell Tale Signs, has become a staple of Saturday night at The Race of Gentlemen weekend bash.

“Back in the late 1940s guys were trying anything to get an edge, employing aircraft and military-surplus pieces, and using the knowledge they learned in the service to go faster,” says Andy. “That just resonates with me.”

Andy Kohler waits for a run on the Jersey Shore at The Race of Gentlemen. Look closely and you’ll spot our Sept. 2018 issue’s cover car, Rob Ida’s ’32 roadster, with Gene Winfield in the seat, behind Kohler’s ’30 Model A roadster.

Andy at speed in his dry-lakes-inspired roadster over the slippery sands of Wildwood during TROG 2018. He took styling cues from several notable cars for the roadster, including the historic Khougaz ’32 lakes roadster. His ride is channeled 6 inches over the Z’d frame to help get its aluminum belly to hover just over the sand.

This is how Andy’s chassis looked prior to mounting the body. He started with the front half of an original ’32 chassis and built the back half from box tubing, incorporating a sturdy tubular center-X. Next he added a 10-inch kick-up and a Model T rear crossmember. A Mike-Moore-built quick-change features spider gears that have been welded together, and a set of reversed ’47 Ford axle housings so that Kohler could mount the spring in front of the rear axle.

Here’s a shot of the underside of the roadster during the bellypan fabrication. The tear-drop-shaped pan is a big plus for aerodynamics and helps keep some of the loose sand out of the car.

Andy added an auxiliary tube crossmember ahead of the stock location to accommodate the spring forward suspension. It’s not usually an appealing look, so he made a frame-horn cover that blends in with the bellypan. This piece gives the car downforce, which helps cancel out some of the opposite lifting force being created by the bellypan.

Andy initially painted the roadster red with a white flame job, but decided to change it. “After coming up for air after days of a pre-TROG thrash, I realized I had unintentionally copied my buddy Jeffrey James’ paint job on his Hot Mess coupe.” So days before the 2016 event, the fresh paint was sanded down, masked off, and a new color scheme was devised and executed.

The front end of the car is made up of an original ’32 grille shell that was perfect “till I cut the bottom off to make it fit,” says Andy. It didn’t go to waste, though. The leftover lower piece was used to repair a friend’s shell that had seen better days. Andy made the radiator shield using a design similar to ones he had seen on late-1940s land-speed racers.

The main attraction up front is Kohler Kustom’s own 2.5-inch drop axle. Andy makes these in his shop, using his grandfather’s 60-year-old press to shape them (a process we covered in “Get Your Drop On!” May 2017). This particular one is from a ’36 Ford, as are the split wishbones, installed in spring-forward fashion. An F1 steering box keeps this sand-shearing ride pointed in the right direction.

A pair of ’47 Ford Lockheed-type juice brakes was mounted up front this year for added stopping power, and match the ones in back. They were liberally drilled by the last owner (obviously without any layout) to help alleviate heat buildup. Shocks are swap meet specials, hung on 1940s Dodge upper mounts.

The powerplant is a refurbished 255ci Mercury flathead, topped with Edmunds heads, an Edmunds 2×2 intake, and a pair of Stromberg 81 carburetors. A Winfield SU1-A cam, Mallory dual-point YB-type 241 AX dizzy, and a set of vintage headers round out the rodder’s recipe here.

The roadster’s interior is as bare bones as it gets. A ’41 Ford dash was cut and molded to fit. Three vintage Stewart-Warner gauges keep track of the engine vitals. A ’40 Ford steering wheel, which replaced the MG wheel Andy first had, is on a ’39 column. Andy’s seat is a canvas-covered steel tube frame that was pulled from an old stock car racer. And Andy’s co-pilot for the race is a WWII-era oxygen tank, which now serves duty as the roadster’s fuel tank. The aluminum tonneau cover helps greatly with air flow, and adds a nice custom touch to the post-war racer.

Andy’s choice in wheels is among the fine details that sets his cars apart from others at TROG. The roadster rides on a set of Ford wide-five wheels, with the rears being a matching pair of Marmon Herrington 4×4 conversion rims.

Saturday at TROG was plagued with delays. Poor sand, inclement weather, a smaller footprint for the race, and the largest field ever for a TROG event all played with the flow of the race. Sunday saw improvement, which put a smile on the faces of both the drivers and spectators alike.

Andy just doesn’t come to play in the sand. His band, The Tell Tale Signs, has become a staple of Saturday night at The Race of Gentlemen weekend bash.

“Back in the late 1940s guys were trying anything to get an edge, employing aircraft and military-surplus pieces, and using the knowledge they learned in the service to go faster,” says Andy. “That just resonates with me.”